


Crossfire

by Tommykaine



Series: Hang the DJ [5]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Post-Apocalypse, Science Fiction, With A Twist, copying and reposting this work elsewhere without my permission is strictly forbidden!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-11-01 12:05:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17866922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tommykaine/pseuds/Tommykaine
Summary: This story follows an exterminator on his third mission on an alien planet, trying to locate an enemy nest together with his lieutenant.





	Crossfire

**Author's Note:**

> The title and idea for this story both come from the song Crossfire by artist Stephen. ~~I am aware that the term is not the most accurate for the events of the story, but poetic license and all that~~
> 
> This is an entry for the 9th edition of the COW-T by LandeDiFandom, for the first mission of week #2 (no prompt, theme: Science Fiction)

Remi looked around with wary eyes, the Sprinter making him overly aware of everything in his surroundings.

Particles of dust were dancing in front of his eyes with every step, making his lips cross into a grimace. This was only his third incursion, still that damn planet seemed to be covered in it.

“Chin up. It could be worse”, lieutenant Volg said. “It could be raining”.

“At least it would not be so damn filthy”, Remi complained, checking on his suit to make sure the forcefield was working properly. The last thing he wanted was to have to toss away a perfectly functioning suit just because some alien dust got into the joints.

Volg shook his head and chuckled, the sound distorted as it echoed inside his suit.

“Trust me, you wouldn't want that. The rains on this planet are acidic enough to fuck up even the best of our shields in the long run”.

Remi grunted, but he didn't want to voice any more protests in front of his superior. He knew what his instructor would say. This wasn't Fal-sun 13 and they weren't there for a joyride. Their only task was to eliminate the enemy, so that was what he should focus on.

“You'll get used to it after a while”, Volg said, sitting down to take out his blaster and make his routine check. Remi watched with fascination as the other switched the layout of his weapon several times in a matter of seconds.

“How many incursion have you been in, sir?”, he asked, unable to contain his curiosity. He knew he shouldn't be asking needless questions, but there was something about the lieutenant's attitude that made him feel like he didn't have so tense as he first would have thought.

“Fifty-seven”. And with that, Volg finally got up and put his blaster away to continue marching.

“And how many...”. Remi had to interrupt himself to run after him when the other picked up his pace. “How many exterminations?”.

Volg chuckled again. “I've lost count after the first hundred”.

Remi couldn't help but shrink down a bit, feeling intimidated by that response. He'd barely gotten up to twelve and that was in the long range. Still, that was to be expected given how much longer the other had been fighting. It was also why he was still a mere infantry unit and the other was his superior.

“Is it true you were there when... when it first started?”.

Volg didn't say anything at first, making Remi worry he might have pushed his luck, but then the other suddenly stopped and stared at the desolate landscape in front of him.

"I was", he said, and the silence fell heavy between them.

The wind was howling in the distance, pushing more dust and dead leaves around, like a weird sort of morbid dance. The only living things that could be seen were the weird scavenging creatures slithering through the skimpy patches of grass, almost machine-like in their appearance. Some of them even looked like miniature versions of the enemy's vehicles.

"I'll tell you a secret", Volg finally said, turning around to face him again. There was a strange light in his eyes, one that Remi could not quite decipher. It was like a sudden spark of bright azure, but it was gone as soon as Remi blinked. "I used to be one of those damn hear bleeding hearts pacifist fools that thought war should not be the solution. That we could have dialogue with these... creatures".

The disgust was palpable in the lieutenant's voice, so intense that Remi almost took a step backwards from him, but he didn't dare to.

"And- and then?", he asked instead.

Volg's lips crossed into a harsh smirk, and that weird look was back in his eyes again.

"You can ask my wife about that".

Before Remi could even fully process his words, the sound of one of their localizators interrupted them. He couldn't help but feel somewhat glad about it.

"There, just as we thought. A nest", Volg remarked once he project the result of the scan.

"I can't even count them apart", Remi said, unable to hide the surprise in his voice. He had heard of nests but he'd never seen one before.

"They like to breed fast. Gives them more fodder to toss our way, to slow us down so that they can find another hole to burrow in.”

Remi shivered at the thought. Those creatures suddenly reminded him of the Sakkali. Which was a kind of parasitic worm-like pests from his region that liked to dig holes to hide from unsuspecting eyes, only to jump out and attack their victims when they made the mistake to take rest too close to their mandibles and their hook-like tongue.

Shaking the thought from his head, Remi followed Volg as he guided him towards the source of the beeping. They used to track them by heat, but that was why the bastards started hiding underground, so now they had to use a combo of motion sensors and smell analyzers.

They were close to reaching the entrance when Remi suddenly froze, every hair on his body standing in alarm as his Sprinter-enhanced senses warned him about the danger.

"Liutenant, wait! Something's not right".

The other stopped just in time. A closer examination of the ground showed the thin, almost invisible wire of an explosive trap.

"Son of a Farzit!". Volg crouched down to examine the threat. "Good eye. My sensors didn't catch that".

"It's masked with some sort of interference", Remi said, looking around nervously as the uneasy feeling didn't cease. He didn't know what it was but it was impossible to ignore, as if all of his senses were focusing on the same thing all at once in a confusing mishmash of unpleasant sensations.

"What's wrong?", Volg asked, no doubt noticing the light in his eyes.

"It's... somewhere... _ARGH!"_

He fell down on his knees as his brain was hit with what could only be described as an ear-splitting scream, except one that trascended noise alone and assaulted every single one of his senses, making him believe he would surely die from it. For a few moments, his brain felt as if it would explode in his skull and paint his helmet with a deep violet colour.

That was when _it_ attacked.

Too worried for his comrade's fate, Volg didn't manage to dodge fast enough to avoid the hit, the forcefield lighting up with sparks as the creature's much more primitive weapon still managed to push him back enough to make him fall and trip on the wire.

_BANG!_

The force of the explosion sent them both flying, and when Remi managed to recover from his moment of weakness his head was pounding at the same rhytm as his heartbeat, his vision compromised by a sort of white fog of particles that reminded him of the dust he hated so much.

Even through that, he could see that his lieutenant was struggling to get up. One of his legs was caught up in the roots of a dying tree and his forcefield was flickering dangerously, while the creature moved in towards him with its weapon held high.

"Lieutenant!", he screamed, forcing himself to get up and aim despite how heavy his blaster felt in his hands, his senses still recovering from their previous overload. He didn't know what it did but whatever it was, it was about to cost the life of his superior if he didn't act fast.

He clenched his teeth as he did his best to steady his aim, all of his arms shaking from the effort.

_BLAM!_

The creature screeched and twisted around, dropping its weapon to push its pale appendages against the open wound on its side, trying to stop the stream of bright red liquid that spilled from it.

Still holding his blaster firmly, Remi rushed to help his lieutenant, crossing his lips into a grimace as he realized that pulling his leg out of the tangle of roots would take far more force than that of his arms alone.

"Hold still", he said, waiting for his vision to clear up enough to be able to aim without hitting the other's leg.

_BLAM! BLAM!_

Once Volg was finally freed from his entrapment, Remi offered his arm to help him get back on his feet, which the other quickly accepted.

Volg then turned to the miserable, whimpering creature that was currently crawling on the ground, no doubt trying to reach the entrance of the nest. It didn't get far before the lieutenant grasped on the filth-caked appendages that sprouted out from its head, prompting it to screech some sort of incomprehensible gibberish.

And then, much to Remi's surprise, Volg activated his external communicator and hissed something back to the creature, some sort of approximation of the weird sounds that he'd heard those creature make.

Whatever it was, it made the already pale creature turn even paler and scream ferociously, charging at him with renewed fury. It didn't even manage to take a step forward, however, before the lieutenant's blaster opened a hole straight into its head.

_BLAM!_

Remi looked up at Volg, his confusion surely evident in his eyes and in his features.

"Why did you- you said something to it?".

Volg turned his communicator back to its normal frequency, his lips still crossed into the most unpleasant grin that Remi ever had the displeasure to see.

"I told you. I once thought we could communicate with these creatures. Back then, I was part of a team that reasearched their... well, if you could even call it language."

The answer surprised Remi. He had never heard of anything like that before.

"What did you say to it?".

Volg only chuckled, finally looking back at him, and when he did so, this time Remi could not stop himself from taking a step backwards.

The light, the bright azure light was back in his eyes and this time Remi was sure he had not imagined it. It made a cold shiver run down his spine, all the way down to his tail.

"Maybe it's best you don't know”.

Remi's tail swayed nervously. Somehow, he had no doubt that the other was right.

“Come on now. Let's take care of the nest”.

Volg's expression didn't change as he reached the entrance, unlocking the mechanism that controlled the opening and letting the harsh light shine on the writhing mass that collected towards the farthest end of the hideout, letting out more incomprehensible screeching.

Remi curled up his lips in disgust as he looked down at those tiny, clumsier versions of the same creature that had attacked Volg before. Some of them were still moving on all four of their limbs, while others were already standing on their fleshy, pale pink appendages. All of them shared the same look, the same round gasping mouths, the same monochrome eyes opened so wide it almost seemed like they would roll out of their skull, while letting out a cacophony of panicked cries.

“They really look like Sakkali”, he murmured, turning his blaster to full power.

 

**Author's Note:**

>  _Heaven if you sent us down_  
>  So we could build a playground  
> For the sinners  
> To play as saints  
> You'd be so proud of what we made
> 
>  
> 
> [Stephen - Crossfire]


End file.
